Chapter 1
Early Years
Kiyotaka Ishimaru was very well behaved. Weekday mornings were always the same: he woke up at 6:30 a.m., made his bed, and walked out to the main room of the apartment. Het set the table, ate breakfast with his parents, and got on the bus to go to school. Today was no different.
The apartment Ishimaru lived in was small, but he had his own bedroom so he couldn't complain about the lack of space. "Good morning, Kiyotaka!" "Good morning, mother!" Ishimaru replied with a slight bow. "Good morning, father!" "Good morning, son," his father replied, glancing up from the morning paper to meet Ishimaru's eyes momentarily. Always look whoever you are speaking to in the eye, that was a lesson Ishimaru's father had taught him.
"Breakfast will be ready in a minute, Kiyotaka. Can you set the table?" His mother asked.
"Yes, of course!" Ishimaru grabbed the plates and silverware off the counter. He was too short to reach the cupboard they were stored in, so either his mother or father always got them down. He set the three places at the table. Breakfast was quiet, and once it was over everyone brushed their teeth. There was only one bathroom, however, so the family formed a line. Ishimaru always went last.
"Alright, Kiyotaka, get your things." His mother knew she didn't have to tell him, as he was usually halfway through getting ready to go before she said anything. Normally this would annoy him, but he knew she was showing how much she cared. Once everyone was ready, they walked to the bus stop. It was still kind of early in the school year, so the sun beat down hot. Once they had reached Ishimaru's bus stop, the parents wished their son luck at school and went on to their bus stop a few blocks down. They had to catch their bus first, so Ishimaru was always around 20 minutes early.
Sitting on the bench as the bus stop, the young student took out a class book and began reading the material that they were scheduled to go over today. He had already read it three times, but a student can never re-read assigned readings too many times.
"What book are you reading today, dork?" he heard another kid say. Without even looking up, he knew who it was. Has it really been fifteen minutes already? He thought as he finished the sentence he was reading.
He looked up to meet the other child's eyes. "Good morning, Watanabe!" He always greeted her with utmost respect, even though he knew she would never return the gesture.
"Ugh, I wish I'd never told you my name. You're not even in my class." She said, turning her head to break eye contact.
"I am reading about the seven continents and the one-hundred-and-ninety-six countries in them. Did you know that there are-" He was rudely cut off by the other girl.
"Yeah, I learned all that last year," She groaned, digging her foot at the ground.
As they saw the bus come down the street, Ishimaru put his book away and stood up. Upon boarding, the other girl sat with one of her friends and Ishimaru sat alone. By now, the kids had all formed their own seating chart. The same two kids would always sit next to each other, and Ishimaru would always sit alone.
Morning class went by rather fast, and after another lonely lunch, Ishimaru started watching the clock. Eventually it would reach 1:00 P.M., and Ishimaru would have to go to P.E. He didn't mind the physical endurance it took, he was quite fit for a boy his age. It was mostly... his classmates.
The P.E. bell rang at 1:00 p.m., as it always did. The third-year elementary students only had one classroom, so there was no need to bring their belongings with them since they would be returning in an hour. Most kids just left their stuff wherever it was when the bell rang, but Ishimaru refused to be so sloppy. He hurriedly organized the paper and books on his desk, but right as he stood up another kid knocked the book of his desk before running away. Forget it, Ishimaru thought as he picked up his book. It's been like this all year, no reason to mention it now.
Once the kids were all wearing their P.E. uniforms, they stood in their respective spots. "Okay, class," their teacher said, getting them to quiet down. "Today we are going to be breaking off into 2 teams for a little game. I'll pick two captains and they will choose their teams." Ishimaru's heart sank, and he did what he always did when the teacher broke the children up into teams. "I volunteer as team captain!" Ishimaru declared, raising his hand. The other kids snickered. "Oh Ishimaru, thank you, but I think I am going to pick to students who haven't been captain yet," the teacher replied to Ishimaru's dismay. Great, he thought, now I look even more stupid.
"Alright, how about Tanaka and Aizawa?" The teacher said. "We will flip a coin to see who picks first." They did the coin toss, and Tanaka was declared the winner. Now came the part that Ishimaru dreaded. "I'll pick⦠Suzuki," the first boy said. "I'll take Kudo," the other one replied. This went back and forth until only two students remained to be picked. It was not mystery to any of the children who Tanaka would choose, and as the realization that he would be stuck with the last kid dawned on him, Aizawa made a sour face. Ishimaru frowned, knowing that face all too well. It was meant for him, after all.
Tanaka chose Sato, to no one's surprise. "Alright, Ishimaru, that puts you on Aizawa's team." The teacher told him. Ishimaru felt like dragging his feet, but that was no way for a student to act. Ishimaru had a direct order from the teacher, and he would do his best to be an asset for his team no matter what. "Let us do our best during this game, teammates!" Ishimaru exclaimed. "Ugh, calm down, loser," one of the kids said while rolling his eyes. The rest of the class went as it usually did. The other kids either ignored Ishimaru or "accidentally" tripped him. The P.E. teacher did his best to curb their behavior, but it was in vain.
Once the teacher blew his whistle to signal the kids to change out of their uniforms, Ishimaru sighed in relief. The other kids couldn't say much during class, but P.E. was like a free-for-all. He had given up on connecting with the kids here and told himself that it would be better once he got to middle school with kids more like him. After all, today was no different than any other day, right?
